TED Talks-inspired event SPIEL draws applications from students

A TED Talks-inspired event is accepting applications from UCLA students who showcase a unique talent or interest, or who want to share their experiences from the most lighthearted to the most serious stories.

Students Presenting Innovating Entertaining Learning, or SPIEL, is a campuswide UCLA student-only speaker event. The Regents Scholar Society at UCLA created SPIEL, which is inspired by the nationally recognized TED Talks.

Applications for this year’s presentations are currently open and will close on Feb. 8. All UCLA undergraduate and graduate students are eligible to participate in SPIEL and are encouraged to apply if they have an unusual hobby or academic interest or another topic that the UCLA community might find interesting, said Joey Cox, a co-founder of SPIEL and fifth-year computer science student.

“The goal is to bring a venue for students to share these stories that would otherwise go unshared,” Cox said.

During the application interview process, students will give rough presentations of their ideas. After the interviews, six students will be selected to give their presentations. SPIEL will work with the presenters to improve and refine their talks up until the date of the talk.

SPIEL is trying to select a group of speakers that will bring diversity to the event, said Krishan Patel, one of the co-founders of SPIEL.

Patel, a third-year international development studies and neuroscience student, said he thinks the main difference between TED Talks and SPIEL is that SPIEL creates a more relaxed environment for students who may have never spoken in front of a large audience. He added that he thinks TED Talks are also different because they attract mostly researchers and professors rather than students.

He said he thinks SPIEL is important because it gives UCLA students the opportunity to discuss important issues with their peers.

Sherina Guimmond, a fourth-year Italian student, said she was very nervous before giving her presentation on sexual assault at last year’s SPIEL. She recounted her personal experiences with sexual assault and talked about how she thinks others should respond to future sexual assault cases.

“I had never put myself out there like that before,” Guimmond said.

A friend convinced Guimmond to give a presentation at the last minute, and she presented with little to no preparation before the event, she said.

She said she spoke without notes or a plan of what she was going to say because she believed her presentation would sound more genuine if she spoke off-the-cuff.

“Some students in the audience were crying and nodding when I spoke,” Guimmond said.

Guimmond said she is happy she decided to participate last year because she conquered her fear of speaking in front of a large crowd and she was able to share her experience with other students.

For his talk last year, Alex Smith, a second-year neuroscience student, recounted his experiences with depression and his process of recovery.

Smith said most people in the audience last year were members of UCLA’s Regents Scholar Society. He said he was slightly disappointed that the students present at last year’s SPIEL did not draw from a more diverse crowd.

About 20 students applied to speak at last year’s SPIEL, and about 80 people attended the first SPIEL last year.

Students can apply online at the group’s website.